"Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
...
> >
> It is pretty scary sometimes, when you look in the fridge and the dough is
> still rising like crazy. It is still working off of internal heat and
heat
> that it generates. But as another poster said, it slows or stops after a
> couple of hours. The advantage for me is that I can start the bread when
I
> get home from work; it does the bowl rising at its leisure during supper
and
> until I am almost ready for bed. I then shape up the dough and put on/in
> pans or baskets, let it just begin to move a bit and then put it in
plastic
> bags and in the refrigerator. First thing when I get up in the morning, I
> turn on the oven to preheat for about an hour, take the bread out of the
> refrigerator and put the bread in the oven when the loaves feel
right(light,
> but not jiggly). The temperature of the dough at this point will probably
> still be quite cool--doesn't matter. Actually, if you are going to slash
> the loaves, a cool loaf slashes more easily. I can get the bread baked
> before I go to work in the morning. This works out very well during the
> summer when you don't want heat in the kitchen later in the day.
> Janet

The reason that I never tried to make-up the final products is because, as
you point out, the dough can rise at an amazing rate in the refrigerator.
There have been times that have had to deflate the dough and let it raise a
second time in the frig. That's why I always smile when I see people who
are overly concerned about proofing boxes and draft-free environments.